The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1887-06-10
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
4 Discourse to the Military In tho
" National Hncampment

National Hncampment
The Soldier the Bulwark OF the Nation
Warriors OF Ancient and Modern Times
Present Reviews Compared with
the Great and Final One.
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage visited the Ma
tional militia encampment at W ashington
and preached to an immense con gregation
on the camp ground. Soldiers from thirty
one States and Territories were present,
togeth6r with nineteen Governors and
thar staifs. His texts were:
Fifty thsusand which could keep rank.-L
Chronicles. XII. 33.
Every one could sling stones at hair-breadth
and not miss.-Judges, Xxx, Is.
He said: Companies of infantry, caval-
~, artillery and zouaves, please notice
the first Scripture passage applauds the
soldiers Of Zebulpn because they were
disciplined troops. They may have been
insufficient at the start and laughed at by
old soldiers because they seemed so clum-
sy in the line; but it was drill, drill, drill,
until they could keep step as one man.
Fifty thousand which could keep "a nix
The second Scripture passage applauds
a regiment of singers in the tribe OF
Benjamin because they are dexterous
marksmen. When they first enlisted they
may have been an awkward squad, and
all their fingers were thumbs, but they
practiced until when they aimed at q
mark they always hit it.
Every one could sling stones at hair breadth
cnd not miss.
Both texts combining to show US that
if we must fight we should do it well.
There IS something absorbing IN the
military science of the Bible. In olden
times all the men between twenty and ffty
years of age were enrolled in the army
and then a levy was made for special
service. There were only three or four
classes exempt-those who had built a
house and had not occupied it; those who
had planted a garden and had not reaped
the fruit Of 1t; those who were engaged
to be married and vet had not led the
bride TO the altar; those who were yet in
the first year of welded life; those who
were so nervous that they could not look
upon an enemy but they fed, and could
not look upon blood but they tainted.
The army was in three divisions-the
center and right and left wings. The
weapons of defense were helmet, shield,
breastplate, buckler. The weapons of
offense were sword, spear. javelin, arrow,
catapult-which was merely bow swung
by machinery, shooting arrows at vast
distances, great arrows, one arrow as
large. as several men could
aft, and ballista, which was a
sling swung by machinery, hurting great
rocks aud large pieces of lead to vast dis.
tances. The shields were made of woven
willow-work, with three thicknesses Of
hide and a loop inside through which the
arm of the warrior might be thrust; and
when these soldiers were marching to at
tack an enemy on the level all these
shields touched each other, making wall
moving b It impene trable; and then when
they attacked fortress and tried to capt
ure battlement, this shield was lifted
over the head SO as to resist the falling
missiles The breastplate was made of
two pieces of leather, brass covered, one
piece falling over the back. At the side
of the warrior the two pieces fastened
with buttons or clasps. The bows were
SO stout and stiff and strong that warriors
often challenged each other to bend one.
The trings of the bow were made from
sincws of oxen. A case like an inverted
pyramid was fastened to the back, that
case containing the arrows. so that when
the warrior wanted to use an arrow he
would put his arm over his
shoulder and pull forth the
arrow for the fight. The angle
of the foot had an iron boot. When a wall
was to be assaulted a battering ram was
brought up. A battering-ram was great
beam swung on Chains in equilibrium.
The batteringram would be brought close
up to the wall, and then a great number
of men would take hold of this beam,
push it back as far as they could and then
let 60, and the beam became a great
swinging pendulum of destruction.
Twenty or forty men would stand in a
movable tower on the back of an ele-
plant, the elephant made drunk with
wine, and then headed toward the enemy.
and what with the heavy feet and the
swinging proboscis, and the poisoned ar
rows shot from the movable tower. the
destruction was appalling. War chariots
were in vogue. and they were on two
wheels, so they could easily turn. A
sword was fastened to the pole between
the horses, so when they went ahead the
sword thrust. and when they turned
around it would NOV down. The armies
carried flags beautifully embroidered The
tribe of Judah carried flag embroidered
with lion; tribe of Reuben, cu,-
broidered with man: tribe of Dan, en-
broidered with cherubim. The noise of
the host as they moved on was over
whelming What with the clatter of
shields and the rumbling Of wheels and
the shouts of the captains, and the voei-
ferations Of the entire host, the prophet
says it was like the roaring of the sea.
Because the arts of war have been ad-
vancing all these long years you are not
to conclude that these armies Of olden
aln1~l
could quote you four or five passages of
Scripture showing you that they were
thoroughly drilled; they marched step to
step, shoulder to shoulder, or as my texts
expresses it, they were
FIFTY thousand which could keep rank" and
ssEvery one could sling stones at q hair breadth
and not miss" ~
= Nothing could be more important than
this great National enca mpment. Un-
drilled troops can never stand before
those which are drilled. At time when
other nations are giving such care to mil
itary tactics, it behooves this Nation
to lack nothing in skill. We shah
never have another war between
North and South. The old decayed bone Of
contention, American slavery, has been
cast out, although here and there Q de-
PRAYED politician takes it up to see il he
can gnaw some thing of of it. We are float
ing on further and further from the pos
sibility of sectional strife, but about for
eigu invasion am not so sure. There is
absolutely no room on this continent for
any other nation. / have been across the
country again and again, and know that
we have not half-inch Of ground for the
equity foot of foreign dcspotism to Stand
on. l do not know but that half-dozen
nations, envious Of our prosperity, may
want to give US a wrestle. During our